After coming away from W.E.L.L. Summit and listening in on some amazing business women and thought leaders, I realized that there were a bunch of ladies like myself fearful of taking the path unknown. As I looked around the room, I realized I knew I wasn’t the only one who had hopes, dreams and goals that went beyond my college diploma. Don’t get me wrong, my nursing career is what I was meant to start out doing, but why should I feel like I should stop there? Some of my friends and coworkers continue on to get their Master’s in nursing, which is wonderful; however, I’m taking my nursing career and putting a spin on it. I’m using what I learned in nursing school and opening up a beauty story. Crazy? Yup…some of you may still be a little perplexed, but after this weekend in NYC, these inspiring, powerful women taught me to forget the fear of my own success and happiness and instead to just “own that shit.”

Devin Donaldson, founder of Optimist & Co, is an amazing lady. Being a natural optimist, Devin took on the challenge and created her own safe cleaning products with ingredients she could easily identify as safe. She is down to earth, encouraging and witty. I loved her story and her motto that keeps her going. When starting out and trying to promote her name and brand, she explained:

“I had walked up and down the street, going into stores, asking them to carry my products. I wasn’t getting much luck and kept hearing the word “no” from these people, but every time I heard “no,” I would walk away hearing “Not Yet.” So, I would call these people back and revisit them and ask again, and again, and they would say no, but what did I hear?? “Not yet!” Persistence without being annoying is key. And eventually, these people called me back and said, ”Okay, let’s meet for coffee.”

This resonated with me throughout the weekend. It reminds me when I was 8 and wrote my parent's letter after letter asking them if I could get a dog. They kept saying No, but in my mind I was thinking, "well little do they know, but maybe not yet we aren't getting a dog, but someday we will get a dog." It was after the 10th letter they found under their pillow when they finally said, Yes!

Determination and self-worth is what kept Devin going. She believed in her brand and herself! These past 7 months, Sarah and I have created our brand starting with online only and when we thought that wasn’t enough, we opened a storefront because …why not?! When things get tough while talking with other businesses or brands, and when we hear “No,” we really know what that means……